Super Mario Advance

Overview

It seems like a long time since I've played a new Mario game. Even the eminent release of the Game Cube doesn't offer much hope, with only the promise of Luigi in a starring role. So, does Super Mario Advance, a combination of Super Mario Bros. 2 and the original Mario Bros., satiate the appetite for a new Mario? Not really. Is it still a lot of fun, when you're on the run? Read and find out.

Gameplay, Controls, Interface

Almost everyone has played the two classics that make up Super Mario Advance, so I've decided to cover only what's new. The re-mix of Super Mario Bros. 2 includes a few larger enemies, and some larger turnips. They've also added a little basket that allows you to choose a bomb, heart, or star, and some jars that present new challenges, and chances for more points. Unfortunately, all these changes are very unimportant to the flow, or difficulty, of the game. The best addition to this version is the five large Ace Coins that are meticulously placed around each stage. I say meticulously, because their placement makes their retrieval challenging, but enjoyable. To really prove that you are a Super Mario Bros. 2 master, you have to retrieve the coins from each level, with a star on the level screen denoting your accomplishment on each stage. The original Mario Bros. has some new backgrounds and'

Multiplayer

...a new multiplayer mode that allows you to connect up to four Game Boy Advance systems together. I would have tried the multiplayer mode, but introvert that I am, I don't know anyone else who has a Game Boy Advance. A nice feature of the multiplayer mode is that you can play a version with multiple Game Boys, but only one cartridge. That is much less cost prohibitive than having a cartridge for each Game Boy, but apparently you will have to wait longer for the game to load. How much fun playing the original Mario Bros. with three friends would be, after a couple hours, is debatable, but still it was a nice addition.

Graphics

Super Mario Advance's graphics have the most in common with the Super Nintendo re-release of the classics. This isn't a bad thing, as the graphics are large and colorful. There are also a few new special effects, like when you toss enemies and they spin off the screen. With all the characters on screen, multiple scrolling backgrounds, and some groovy special effects, Super Mario Advance is a good showcase for the power of the Game Boy Advance. But, it still isn't anything really new.

Audio

The most startling thing you will notice the first time you play a new Super Mario Bros. 2 game is the voices of each of the four characters you can play. Mario, Luigi, the Princess, and Toad each have unique, and fitting, voices. Although the comments are repetitive, they are humorous and don't seem to get annoying. Let me make an exception to that last comment. MOST of the voices aren't annoying. My favorite character, Toad, has a voice that lies halfway between cute and grating, and frequently steps over the line.

Bottom Line

Super Mario Advance, apart from its moniker, offers very little that's advanced. Mainly a rehash of Super Mario Bros. 2 with the original Mario Bros. thrown in for good measure, Super Mario Advance succeeds only because you can take this one on the road with you. It's not that Super Mario Advance isn't fun, but I think I would have been a little more forgiving if Nintendo could have made a new Mario game, or at least added the even better Super Mario Bros. 3.

What kind of hardware launch would it be without a Mario title? Nintendo’s unrivalled secrecy has meant that the world only found out about the existence of Mario Advance just after Christmas. It must tape its employees’ mouths shut or something! The GBA is due out in Japan in a couple of days, but we still don’t know that much about the new Mario title. What we do know, is that it will play in a similar style to the Marios of old. For those of you who have had the pleasure of playing Super Mario Bros 2 or Super Mario All-Stars, you’ll know that the plucking and throwing gameplay created a whole new atmosphere for the Mario series, one which has its own little corner in our hearts.

The four-player mode sticks you in a battle arena, and allows you to choose from Mario, Luigi, Peach or Toad. There may well be others, but they have yet to be announced. With a plethora of new levels and battle stages, you can expect this title to sell on a 1:1 ratio basis with the hardware, come 21 March!

It's a good job Nintendo keep all their old games on a big back-up disc because they certainly believe in digging them out as many times as possible! Mario Advance is nothing more than the Mario Land 2 game from the Super Mario All-Stars compilation on Super Nintendo. If you don't believe us take a look at this comparison. On the left is the original game from the SNES, on the right the new Game Boy Advance version. Look similar? You betcha! Of course, it goes without saying that this doesn't stop it being a mighty fine Mario game which we were all looking forward to playing again.

Listen up class, this is the third time Super Mario Bros 2 has been released. The first incarnation was when the game featured a completely different set of characters. The first revamp involved changing these characters so that they could incorporate Mario, Luigi, Toad and Princess Daisy into the game. The game's name changed from Dream Factory: Doki Doki Panic into Super Mario Bros 2. This latest installment of the fat Italian plumbing legend's adventures first appeared on the shop shelves in 1988, and was an instant success. From these two screen shots, if you look carefully, you can see the basic changes that have been made to the characters...

When SMB2 was changed for a second time, it was so it could be incorporated into the Mario All-Stars package for the SNES. Graphically it changed dramatically, looking more like the visuals from Super Mario World. It was a makeover that all three Mario games would undergo. The following shot shows the character select screen for the GBA – which is not all that much different from the SNES version...

To further illustrate the point (we may as well), take a look at these two shots of the same level of the original NES version compared with that of the GBA version. You'll notice that the handheld version is graphically pretty impressive!

Let's go back, way back through the mists of time, to an innocent age. An age where men were men and games were games. An age when games where judged by how they played and not, necessarily, how they looked. To many this was the 'Golden Age' of gaming and during this time Nintendo pretty much ruled the roost.

As we are all aware, Mario has changed his appearance quite a lot over the years. He was once a monkey-bashing construction worker. After that he became the princess-rescuing plumber we all know and love, and in the course of time he's jumped from 8-bit all the way through to 128-bit, going from 2D to 3D and back again! True fans of the short fat dungarees-wearing Italian will have been to his party, played a round of golf and even popped some pills with him (that's if you've played Dr Mario – they haven't released a brand of Mario Aspirin... yet!) But think hard and maybe a few of you might remember a game called Super Mario Bros 2. Largely recognised as the Mario game that wasn't, SMB2 first appeared on the NES in 1988 and reappeared, all tarted up, for Mario All-Stars on the SNES. Now it's back, given yet another face lift and squeezed on to the incredibly tiny Game Boy Advance, and its name? Well, it's simply known as Mario Advance... and it's damn fine!

It's-A Me! Again!

Way back when, Super Mario Bros 2 was originally called Dream Factory: Doki Doki Panic and featured a selection of weird characters – but not a plumber in sight! For whatever reason, these characters where removed from the game and replaced with Mario, Luigi, Toad and Princess Daisy. Most of the other game elements were retained, and this explains why instead of using their arses to eradicate the enemy, Mario and his pals now picked up their adversaries and chucked them around. It was odd but it was still Mario and that was what mattered.

Now Super Mario Bros 2 is back on the brand-spanking new GBA and it's looking as good as ever. The story is the same as before, with Mario fighting his way through seven levels of grabbing, jumping, throwing fun until he reaches the final showdown with the main frog-type bad guy who is holding him and his friends hostage in a world full of bad dreams – the evil villain!

Mamma Mia!

Despite this being not quite an 'official' Mario game (style-wise) there are nevertheless loads of familiar elements. The environments for instance, thanks to the SNES's Super Mario World-style graphics, are just the kind you'd expect Mario to find himself in. Each world is chock-full of bouncy, colourful platforms with candy-cane motifs running right through the game. There are numerous destinations to travel to from the traditional green landscapes through worlds made up of ice and snow to desert plains, to name a mere few! Despite the fact that this is a port of an older game, the GBA demonstrates, thanks to this title, just how improved the visuals are and how many colours it can squeeze out of itself!

There has also been a bit of a debate about the sound quality of the machine, party due to its speaker, which – like the GBC – has a habit of sounding 'tinny'. To a certain extent this is still apparent but if you plug a good set of earphones into the handheld, you'll notice just how much better the sound is! Apart from the rich tunes and the great sound effects another wonderful feature is the addition of character speech! Now you can hear Mario cry "Mamma Mia" every time he runs out of lives or even "That's as far as you're going!" when confronted by an enemy! It's cute, it's fun and it improves your gaming pleasure immeasurably!

Ciao Bella!

But what does the game play like? Well, there are a few annoying elements. For a start, the game requires an awful lot of skill. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but it does mean that you may well find yourself battling through a particular level again and again until you finally manage to get it right. Despite this, the game is utterly addictive and no matter how frustrated you get, you'll still find yourself hooked on it for endless hours.

The main reason for this is that it takes a bit of brain power to figure out a way of getting through many of the levels. Some areas are unsuitable for, say, the character of Mario to complete on his own. If this is the case then it might be to your advantage to switch to someone else. Whereas Mario is pretty nippy, his jumping skills aren't that strong – unlike Luigi, who wouldn't look out of place in an Olympic high jump event! Princess Daisy can hover in the air when she leaps and Toad can pick up objects faster as he is the strongest of the bunch. By utilising these talents, you should be able to persevere through each level and ultimately save the day! It's simply up to you to decide which character is appropriate for which level.

We could argue that Mario Advance is old-fashioned, but it's a testament to the strength of the gameplay that it still pulls you in and keeps you fixed to your Game Boy. There are tons of options (including the multiplayer which is featured in the boxout), the action is non-stop and it all combines to form a truly great game. Even if this is just a tiny taste of what Mario will be getting up to on the new handheld system, it definitely bodes well for the future, even if the game does stem from the past! Well done Nintendo!

Mario Classic

Apart from the main game itself, Mario Advance also sports a rather nifty multiplayer game called Mario Bros Classic. Thanks to the link cable, up to four players can go head-to-head in a bout of platform-smashing, bad guy-kicking action! This game involves a series of ugly critters pouring out of pipes which you must knock over and kick out of the screen. The more of these you can get rid of, the more points you get. As more players get involved, the more exciting the game becomes as it means you're battling against friends as well as monsters!

The advantage of GBA multiplayer is that, with some games, only one of you needs the actual cart in order to play! Mario Bros Classic just happens to be one such title and it pays off beautifully!

Whenever Nintendo launches new hardware, you can bet there's a Mario game to go with it, and Game Boy Advance will be no different. Mario Advance will launch with the system on March 21 in Japan, and if you're a longtime fan of the series, there's probably something very familiar about these screenshots. That's because Mario Advance is based on Super Mario Bros. 2 (known as Super Mario USA in Japan), with a few small tweaks and changes. For example, bigger Shyguys, giant POW blocks and scaling Phantos. It's also got a Mario Bros.-style Versus mode with two different games--Battle and Classic. Battle can be played by two or four linked players with only one copy of the game. For Classic mode, all players (one to four) need a copy of the game. Expect Mario Advance to be a GBA launch title in the U.S. in June.